cash register

American  

noun

• cash registers
  plural

1. a business machine that indicates to customers the amounts of individual sales, has a money drawer from which to make change, records and totals receipts, and may automatically calculate the change due.

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cash register British  

noun

1. a till with a keyboard that operates a mechanism for displaying and adding the amounts of cash received in individual sales

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cash registers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cash register

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cash register

“Whatever the cash register says at the end of the day is going to Dolly’s passion,” Yearwood said in announcing the tribute.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

She told the relative that she had to go back in because her company had asked her to move money from the cash register into a safe.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

BERLIN—Bedran Günes, 23, was manning the cash register at Ari Mini Markt, his grocery store, when two officers walked in, demanding to see his merchandise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

The car business is the cash register that funds the empire.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 15, 2026

The cash register was then on his left and the abacus on his right.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck